Sad news, Fort Lauderdale. Christine’s Restaurant announced this morning via e-mail that it has been sold. The dining room cum jazz bar, which earned New Times’ Best New Restaurant in 2008 and Best Romantic Restaurant in 2009, was opened in December 2007 by co-owners Daniel MacMillan and Gregory Rhatagen, a…
Editor’s note: As our new restaurant critic, John Linn, gets ready to take over next week, we offer this leftover from April 2007. My “father-un-law” was in town, and I wanted to take him to dinner. Not that I needed to impress him. Here’s a guy who drove his battered…
This can of breadfruit has been sitting on my desk for nearly a month, and I’m sure it was on a shelf for 20 times longer than that. I haven’t exactly been avoiding it; after all, how bad could it be? It’s got fruit right in the name, the pictures…
Every day after work, I would drive home along Sunrise Boulevard and spot Texas Hold ‘Em BBQ’s big barrel smoker chugging along out front. I got really used to seeing — and smelling — it out there. Occasionally, the fuming stack would churn out a plume of rich smoke so…
Recession, you say? Apparently not on Clematis Street, where despite a dining economy that has many restaurateurs contemplating an easier line of work, like shipping out on a tramp steamer to Bolivia, the hits just keep on coming. Two new spots have opened up on the street, both admittedly in…
• A pair of West Palm Beach eateries are taking their shows on the road to the rather tonier confines of the Shops at Boca Center. Come fall, Rocco’s Tacos will be slinging tortillas and margaritas in the current Big City Tavern space, the same eats and drinks that have…
If you’re not a subscriber to our weekly Cafe Bites dining newsletter for Broward and Palm Beach, here’s a taste of what you missed this week. Click here to sign up.Early-morning visitors at CityPlace see a far different piazza than their night-owl counterparts: The crowds are gone, the dancing fountain…
Just two months ago, New Times called Cafe Boulud the best restaurant in Palm Beach County, a place where local and season ingredients are transformed into perspective-changing meals by Executive Chef Zach Bell. We mentioned then that you don’t have to be an Everglades Club member to afford a meal…
Philly may be far away, but that doesn’t stop Big Al’s Steak from serving authentic cheese-steak sandwiches to South Floridians. With locations in Coconut Creek and Delray Beach, the sandwiches are done so authentically that they even include the Cheese Whiz and include a simple ordering process to make sure…
I’m a sucker for poor boys of all types: hulking sandwiches filled with fried catfish, oysters, and shrimp and beefier equivalents stuffed with sopping-wet roast beef or hot Italian sausage. No matter the filling, I prefer them served with crusty French bread and gobs of spicy remoulade, with a smattering…
I didn’t exactly have high expectations when I was tasked with reviewing Wendy’s new boneless chicken creations. I’ve certainly had a square hamburger or two from the red=headed temptress’ chain, but it’s never the first choice I make. So it’s with a very real sense of dread that I walk…
Mention Zinfandel to your average noncork dork and the first wine likely to come to mind is some sweet, fruity pink stuff pissed out by giant conglomerates that is to real Zinfandel what paté de foie gras is to 9 Lives Liver & Bacon dinner. So let’s get one thing…
Photo by Jacob KatelIn this recession, everyone is looking for a deal — some are just a little more bizarre than others.Chef Allen’s in Aventura is holding a promotion in which the restaurant will provide a complimentary dinner for two to anyone willing to bring in a wheelbarrow, or 200…
Although Clean Plate Charlie is the only food blog you really need to read daily, some people just can’t get enough. Here are some highlights of other food blogs.Before you head out for a slice of pizza, you’ll want to check out Worst Pizza. Despite the name, the site reviews…
As a young man, the subtleties of pulled pork were lost on me. Technique, patience, care: pointless wastes of time to my still immature, I-want-it-fast mind. “Grab the pork,” I thought, “and pull it. It’s not rocket science.”With maturity, though, came understanding. And a world of unimagined pleasures. The explosion…
Marylea Moffat was in a pickle. The trucking company she and her husband ran had crashed and burned. Her marriage too. And getting a new job? Well, the way things are nowadays, good luck with that. What she did have was a lifetime of family recipes for pickling just about…
Move over, dinner: Happy hour is coming through. That magical few hours — usually from 5 to 7 p.m. — is a great way to get your post-work liquid intake. But at quite a few places, it’s also a great way to taste some dishes from the kitchen on the…
Editor’s note: We’ve got a new restaurant critic here at New Times. John Linn has been something of a protégé to Gail Shepherd over the years. Now Shepherd’s moving over to become a staff writer for us, and Linn’s stepping into the role of restaurant critic. As he gets his…
Last week’s experiment in trying to eat something delicious and exotic didn’t work out exactly as I’d planned. It wasn’t disgusting, but it was far from a treat that I’ll find myself scouring the aisles in my local grocery store for. Before the sting of my moderate failure could truly…
If you haven’t been to Chops Lobster Bar in Boca Raton, we don’t blame you. It’s not exactly the place most people can afford to go regularly, especially in this economy. Maybe that’s why it was our Best Of Broward-Palm Beach 2007 pick for “Best Restaurant When Someone Else Is…
It’s not hard to find one or two dishes — usually they’re side dishes — for the vegetarian crowd at many restaurants. Vegetarians become accustomed to the plain goodness of rice and beans and house salads and saying “without cheese, please.” Delivery, though? Forget about it. If you’re not ordering…
Last week, Gordon Ramsay wrapped up his Kitchen Nightmares transformation of Anna Vincenzo’s, an Italian “pizza and” joint in east Boca Raton. As we reported, the celeb chef stopped in on Thursday afternoon to treat a crowd to a pizza contest starring athletes and commentators from local sports teams, and…
